Baby Boomers Giving Back Through Encore Careers

Marc Freedman, founder of US not-for-profit Encore.org, will be visiting Australia in the first week of June to talk about the encore careers phenomenon and its potential for Australia

Many Australians are in the midst of inventing a new stage of life and work – the encore years – between the end of midlife and anything resembling old-fashioned retirement. This is a time when they make some of their most important contributions, for themselves, for their communities, and for the well-being of future generations.

Marc Freedman, founder of US not-for-profit Encore.org, will be visiting Australia in the first week of June to talk about the encore careers phenomenon and its potential for Australia.

Marc Freedman has been described by The New York Times as “the voice of aging baby boomers who are eschewing retirement for … meaningful and sustaining work later in life,” while The Wall Street Journal states, “In the past decade, Mr. Freedman has emerged as a leading voice in discussions nationwide about the changing face of retirement.” He is author of The Big Shift: Navigating the New Stage Beyond Midlife , in which Freedman says: “We are in the position to make a monument from what used to be the leftover years, a second chance for people of all stripes to ascend the ladder of contribution and fulfillment, and an opportunity for society to ‘grow up’ along with its population. This amounts to nothing less than changing the pattern of lives, and with it the nature and possibilities of every stage along the way. It’s time for a shift – a shift in thinking and in culture, in social institutions and public policies, a shift from what worked in the past to what can carry us into the future.”

A key initiative of Encore.org is the Encore Fellowships program. Encore Fellowships are designed to deliver new sources of talent to organisations solving critical social problems. These paid, time-limited Fellowships match skilled, experienced professionals at the end of their mid-life careers with social purpose organisations.

During the Fellowship period (typically six to 12 months, half to full time), the Fellows take on roles that bring significant, sustained impact to their host organisations. While they are working, the Fellows earn a stipend, learn about social purpose work, and develop a new network of contacts and resources for the future.

The network of affiliate Encore Fellows programs is now expanding across the US and soon the UK, with growing global interest and recognition. Here in Australia, former CEO of Australian not-for-profit, Connecting Up, Doug Jacquier is exploring interest in establishing Encore Fellowship programs in local cities and communities. Jacquier says: “Australia has an abundance of mature experience and knowledge in its workforce and Australia’s not-for-profits and charities increasingly need high level skills to grow their capability to address pressing social needs. We need to find a way to help that mature workforce transition to a second or encore career and, at the same time, build the capacity of the not-for-profit sector to do what it does even better.

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Encore.org

Encore.org is building a movement to make it easier for millions of people to pursue second acts for the greater good. We call them "encore careers" – jobs that combine personal meaning, continued income and social impact – in the second half of life. Through an inventive program portfolio, original research, strategic alliances and the power of people’s life stories, Encore.org demonstrates the value of experience in solving society’s greatest problems – from education to the environment, health care to homelessness.Doug Jacquier P: 040895554W:www.encore.org